Monday, August 22, 2011

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #25!

It's time for Challenge #25 here at the ol' Arcana! Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?

Here ya' go -- good luck!

UPDATE:

Congrats to reader "Paul" for identifying this mystery photo as Denis Heroux's The Uncanny (1977). I thought the image would be a little tougher to nail with half of Samantha Eggar's face hidden, but I guess it's hard to mistake those eyes!

The film itself is a Canadian attempt at aping the success British companies like Amicus had been having with the anthology format, bringing in plenty of that country's stars and some of their backers, too. Peter Cushing hosts as a writer pitching his newest research tome; one dedicated to the concept that cats have been exploiting mankind instead of the other way around. Seriously. What follows is a trio of supposed terror tales involving feline forces dooming a surprisingly loaded cast that includes, in addition to Eggar and Cushing, turns from Ray Milland, Donald Pleasance, John Vernon, Susan Penhaligon and more.

While bypassing theatrical play in the States (going direct to television airings on CBS), The Uncanny did hit screens in its financing countries; North of the border Astral handled the job, and across the pond Rank took charge. There was even a novelization issued in the U.K.! Receiving an '80s VHS release Stateside courtesy of Media Home Entertainment, the film never gained much of a following here, probably due to its lack of particularly exploitable content -- at the end of the day, it's still a flick about killer kitties, no matter what you do! No domestic DVD as of this writing, but there are imports available in Australia and Britain.

For a look at Challenge #24, still unsolved, click here. We also have quite a few unidentified Grab Bag photos, if you really want to show your stuff. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!